HMS Locust (T28)

HMS Locust was one of 4 Dragonfly-class river gunboats of the Royal Navy, and was named after the locust, an insect. Launched on 28 September 1939 and commissioned on 17 May 1940, she survived the Second World War despite being severely damaged many times, including taking a shell hit during Operation Overlord.

HMS Locust, 25 February 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Locust
Ordered:	20 June 1938
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd., Scotstoun[1]
Laid down:	29 November 1938
Launched:	28 September 1939[1]
Commissioned:	17 May 1940
Decommissioned:	May 1946
Reclassified:	Royal Naval Reserve drill ship in 1951
Fate:	Sold for breaking, 1968
General characteristics
Class and type:	Dragonfly-class river gunboat
Displacement:	585 tons[1]
Length:	197 ft (60 m)
Beam:	33 ft (10 m)
Draught:	5 ft (1.5 m)
Installed power:	3,800 shp (2,800 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 2 × 78-inch, 3-bladed propellers 3 × rudders
Speed:	17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h) (max)
Range:	90 tons of fuel
Complement:	74
Armament:	1939-1941: Upper platform: 1 × 0.5-inch quad-barrel machine gun Battery deck: 1 × 4-inch QF Mk V gun, 1 × 3.7-inch howitzer, 2 × 2-inch deck-mounted mortars Main deck: 1 × 4-inch QF Mk V gun, 1 × 0.5-inch quad-barrel machine gun 1941-1946: Upper platform: 1 × 0.5-inch quad-barrel machine gun Battery deck: 1 × 4-inch QF Mk V gun, 1 × 2-pdr 4-barrel pom-pom, 2 × 2-inch deck-mounted mortars Main deck: 1 × 4-inch QF Mk V gun, 1 × 0.5-inch quad-barrel machine gun From 1946: Upper platform: 2 × Oerlikon 20mm Mk VIIIA machine gun Battery deck: 1 × 25-pdr gun, 1 × 2-pdr 4-barrel pom-pom, 2 × 2-inch deck-mounted mortars Main deck: 1 × 4-inch QF Mk V gun, 1 × Oerlikon Mk VIIA machine gun

Service

Designed as a Gunboat for the Yangtze River, she was equipped with two 4-inch guns; fore and aft, two 3-pounders each side, and a 3.5-inch howitzer midship plus a multi-barrel 2-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft gun. She was flat bottomed with a triple rudder configuration.

She participated in the Dunkirk evacuation during which she was attacked by German aircraft and evacuated 1,000 troops. [2]

Locust had a central role in Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, in which she was part of the "Cutting Out Force" that was to seize barges and trawlers and tow them back to England. She carried about 200 Royal Marine Commandos.

She served during Operation Overlord, during which she received a hit from shellfire. She survived the war, was recommissioned as a training vessel and eventually sold for scrap in 1968.[3]

Fate

She was placed in reserve from 1946 until 1951 when she was converted to a drill ship for the Royal Naval Reserve[1] and used for training. When moored next to the RNVR ship HMS Flying Fox in Bristol, the vessel's shallow draught (essential for navigating shallow rivers) could be seen easily, around a foot or so below the waterline. Locust had three propellors and three large-bladed shallow rudders, equally spaced across its stern. She was decommissioned in 1968 and sold on 24 May 1968 to Cashmore for breaking.[1] She was broken up in Newport.[1]

References

1. Colledge (2006) pp.233–4.
2. Tragedy At Dieppe: Operation Jubilee August 19, 1942. Mark Zuehlke. Douglas & McIntyre:Vancouver, p.62 of ebook edition.
3. O'Keefe, David. One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada's Tragedy at Dieppe. Knopf Canada. ISBN 0345807693.

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.